Cashell to Rick Perry on Tesla deal: We are going to win

Reno Mayor Bob Cashell has a message for Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is pulling out all the tax incentive stops to win the Tesla battery gigafactory away from Nevada: I feel sorry for you because you're going to lose.

In an interview today on CNBC, Cashell said he's not about to let Texas walk away with the gigafactory.

"Since I grew up in Texas, I gotta feel sorry for 'em, but we're gonna beat 'em," Cashell said on the news program. "Rick Perry just needs to understand that we are going to win."

Site selection experts recently said San Antonio and Reno are the best potential locations for Tesla to build its 10 million square foot factory. A permit to begin site preparations on a large, but secret project at the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center was pulled last month.

Tesla's CEO Elon Musk has said the company will likely begin work in at least two locations before choosing a finalist by the end of the year.

Cashell was asked whether he's annoyed at being on the end of Musk's puppet string in the competition.

"Well, I’d rather him be straight out and say we’re coming or not coming and here’s what we need to do to get it," Cashell said. "But that’s his part of negotiations."

So what would Cashell do to help close the deal? Give up his Bentley.

"Somebody asked me if I'd give up my car to get a Tesla, I said, 'Bring Tesla and I'll go buy me a Tesla.'"